Italian Filmmaker Eitan Pitigliani talks about his filmmaking on SISSY

I have always had a huge passion for films, since I was a kid… I was probably born that way, preferring to take a step back, even when I was with people, like friends or family, in order to see life, theirs and mine, from the outside, as if I was a third eye trying to capture the world from an external point of view.

This ultimately led me to becoming a film director… someone who lives to tell stories and share them with the world… hoping to take them before as many audiences as possible in the world… to feel alive, but also in the attempt to make people’s lives better, either by simply entertaining them or, like me, to bring a message across that would touch their hearts…

indieactivity: Are you only directing your own projects, or you’re open for hire?
Eitan Pitigliani (EP): So far I have mostly directed my own projects, since I am also a screenwriter and when something intrigues me or touches me, it’s like a lighting bolt that I hits me and I have rush to the computer and start writing… sometimes I even start with parts of the script… at times it happens at night, when I wake up all of a sudden, shaking and sweating, feeling that I have to start jotting down the idea I had in my sleep…

Watch the official trailer for Sissy By Eitan Pitigliani

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It’s the way my mind works… and it’s very often a 360 degree thing, that makes me live the story I want to tell like I am actually living it myself, and that leads me to imagine the film with open eyes, entering the different aspects of it, like the actors playing the different roles, the set design, the music, even the editing… it’s like having your mind busy on a full time crazy job…

Being like this, it’s just easier to bring life to a project that starts in my head, although I am very open to considering stories created by other screenwriters, as long as I can find in them something that strikes my attention and moves me deeply, pulling me out of the real world and making me dive into another world… and that’s amazing… it would be the most incredible thing, also because I see Cinema as a team work… not really a one-man thing… it’s the team that wins… always….

Do you hire a casting director, or do you like to choose the cast yourself? If so, what criteria go into your casting?
Eitan Pitigliani (EP): I have a great casting director I often work with, a dear friend of mine, even though I usually have the actors in mind when I write the story and the script… in fact, I like to write for specific actors, knowing that they would most likely be the ones to play the characters I create… in that case, the casting director is essential to complete the cast of the film, in regard to both major and minor roles, that are very important for the integrity of the film.

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What went into the casting process for “SISSY”?
Eitan Pitigliani (EP): On Sissy, I already had the whole cast in mind when I wrote the script… the young protagonist Vincenzo Vivenzio, an incredible actor who brought to life the main character in a beautiful and astonishing way, as well as the little girl Dea Lanzaro, who was only 7 when we filmed, and who was the one that inspired me when I wrote this story. Along with them, Fortunato Cerlino, who plays the role of the father, and Mirella D’Angelo, the candy on the cake, who has a very special and magical role, that the audience will discover once watching the film.

Without giving anything away, tell us a little bit about the script, how did you come up with the idea?
Eitan Pitigliani (EP): The idea behind Sissy was inspired by the little girl, Dea Lanzaro (her name literally means Goddess), a very young yet incredibly talented child actress, to whom I was giving acting lessons at the time. My mom had just passed and I thought my life was over… but in the darkest time of my life, when everything seemed to have fallen apart, that little girl helped me face my grief in order to get myself together and come back to my life…

She made me snap out of the funk… It’s been hard, extremely hard, but thanks to her I managed to come alive again, and to give life to Sissy, as a tribute for my mom. I owe a lot to my mom, and this film, inspired by that little girl, is something very special to me… that keeps my mom still alive, in a way, and that at the same time brings me closer to the world out there, first of all to the ones who suffer.

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Who is the “SISSY” for? Who do you think would enjoy it the most?
EP: As I was saying, SISSY is a film I made in loving memory of my mom Caterina, who has lived her whole life for me and wanting the best for me, and at the same time, it’s a film that I wanted to dedicate to all those who lost someone, with whom I can’t wait to share Sissy, to help them heal the pain caused by the passing of their loved ones and see them from a different perspective… as they were little kids, like Sissy, having fun somewhere else, in another dimension, a beautiful world up in the skies, over the rainbow…. Not dead, not at all… just finally able to enjoy life and have fun.

When did you form your production company – and how did that come to life?
EP: I had the pleasure to work with a phenomenal production team: the film was produced by Martina Borzillo, a marvelous woman thanks to whom I was able to get this project off the ground in a very short time, along with Andrew Carlberg, the amazing Oscar-winner producer who won the Academy Award in 2019 with Skin and was nominated in 2021 with Feeling Through… and also Rai Cinema, the Italian Cinema of State, that was essential for the making of this film, and I can’t be grateful enough for having such a fantastic production team behind this project that means so much to me… it’s just magical…

How long did it take to shoot the entire film?
EP: It took 4 very long days, and it was incredible because we had a child actress on set, in almost every scene, although if felt like she had been on set forever… she actually impressed all of us with her amazing talent and made it possible for us to film everything according to the schedule, without any extra time. It was really impressive.

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How long was the post-production process?
EP: The editing took about a month, while the rest of the post production lasted a couple of months, considering the creation and the recording of the soundtrack in Israel, the sound mix in Rome and the color correction and finish in Los Angeles.

What are your goals with “SISSY”?
EP: My only goal with SISSY is to honor my mom and to touch people’s heartstrings and help them see life from a different perspective… that’s really my one and only goal… and I’m very happy that Sissy started its festival journey with 2 Oscar-qualifying selections, the world premiere at the 46th Cleveland Intl Film Festival and the official selections at Flickers’ Rhode Island Intl Film Festival, along with the 52nd edition of the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy, and Cordillera in the US.

What’s next for you? What are you working on right now?
EP: Right now I’m working on my first feature film, which is about a very touchy story, a youth film, sort of a coming of age, in a way, and I can’t wait to share it with the world and get this project off the ground soon.

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Who is your favorite director? Why?
EP: There’s so many… just so many… As a young moviegoer and student, I started loving Almodovar and his unique touch, but I also fell in love with Ang Lee, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola… Federico Fellini, Ozu, Akira Kurosawa from the old times, while today I simply adore Terrence Malick, Cristopher Nolan, Woody Allen, Jodie Foster, and the Italian Lina Wertumuller (God bless her), Giuseppe Tornatore and Paolo Sorrentino….

And definitely the most talented young directors… amongst whom I really admire Xavier Dolan – the way he tells stories is so cool and inspiring – and also Damien Chazelle…. His LALALAND was just astonishingly marvelous…. I love directors and their way to look at the world and at life, each with a different perspective, trying to capture it and put it on screen…. I may have forgotten so many great ones that inspired me in the past and still inspire me… there’s just so many great directors out there…

What would you recommend to a new director at the beginning of his/ her journey? Any special courses, workshops, helpful books they can read? What advice would you give directors around the world?
EP: I would say be open to everything around you, talk to people, empathize with them, and try to always find a way to see beyond reality, to catch a glimpse of what lies behind people’s behavior, to understand what made them who they are, what shaped their character, what made or makes them suffer, and what they hide from the world…. That’s a way to understand each other, to see people’s beauty, and also to become better storytellers and directors… Embrace life and try to not judge people based on their appearance and their, more or less apparent, flaws and shortcoming… That’s the most important part of our job.

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